


In my defense, my attention was elsewhere

by outlier



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), F/F, Felines, Nosy Neighbor, cabin in the woods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28262433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outlier/pseuds/outlier
Summary: Someone is trying to assassinate Kara Danvers. After what should have been a successful attempt, Alex drags Kara to a cabin in the woods for her own safety. Enter a nosy neighbor, a supposed barn cat, and a distressing lack of snow.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers
Comments: 14
Kudos: 146
Collections: Secret Kalex Santa 2020





	In my defense, my attention was elsewhere

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lurkete](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurkete/gifts).



Someone had tried to kill Kara Danvers. Twice. It was both irritating and insulting.

The first time, she almost didn’t even realize she’d been poorly assassinated. To be fair to her probable assassin, he, she, or they had no reason to suspect an investigative journalist would be immune to gelsimine (and, really, all poisons save the big K). If she hadn’t been the incredibly polite and courteous soul that she was (and here in the retellings, Alex would roll her eyes and smack Kara’s bicep with the back of her hand), the entire assassination attempt would have gone unnoticed.

“And that’s why you always send a nice text thanking someone for sending you a delicious assortment of gourmet chocolates,” she’d told J’onn in the initial recounting, ignoring the way Alex was muttering about how it would be far more cost effective to buy M&Ms by the ton than to try equaling Kara’s appetite with ridiculously tiny, ridiculously overpriced chocolates, and Kara should know her better than that.

The second time was a little more embarrassing, but in Kara’s defense, she hadn’t actually noticed she’d been shot. It’d been the tiny plink as the flattened bullet hit the breakroom floor, along with the delayed realization that the whiff she’d heard had been a high powered, high velocity round aimed with remarkable precision at her heart and the tinkle had been the breaking of glass as it breached CatCo’s security window that finally clued her in. James said she looked like a dying swan when it finally registered, and would flap his arms about and mime her dropping with dubious grace to the floor, but James had also had the presence of mind to sacrifice a ketchup package to make it look like she’d suffered a wound. Regardless of the outcome, which was all of her coworkers thinking she was dead, Kara held that it had been an excellent active shooter drill and that everyone at CatCo would be safer for the practice of a mostly calm, somewhat successful shelter in place event in the future.

Kara had also thought the whole faking of her death had been a little much, but Alex had glowered and pointed out that surviving at least two assassination attempts (and Kara didn’t appreciate the implication that she just hadn’t noticed any other assassination attempts, because she _would_ have) was beyond suspect and that a sniper of the caliber who’d been dispatched to finish her off would know that shot would have been fatal. She’d made a number of arguments about Kara’s secret identity and people beginning to suspect she wasn’t standard issue human and inevitable links back to Supergirl. They’d seemed specious to her, but J’onn had been nodding in solemn agreement and Alex had been worrying her bottom lip the way she did when she was _really_ worried and her eyes had been big and watery (hence Kara’s heart-strings had been tugged). Anyway, taking a vacation wasn’t a horrible idea.

“But it’s going to be cold,” she said, for the fifth time, a little miffed that Alex didn’t even bother to roll her eyes this time. Kara continued to maintain that it would have been so much more efficient for her to fly them to J’onn’s remote cabin in the north Oregon woods. Alex hadn’t even said no, technically. She’d just given Kara that glare, the one that said that Kara had just said something so stupid that it didn’t even deserve to be addressed, and continued packing their bags.

So, okay, Kara didn’t even feel the cold in Antarctica, much less a brisk Oregon winter, but Alex did. Alex was going to be cold and uncomfortable and grumpy, all because someone had the gall to try and kill Kara Danvers. Then again, a cold and grumpy Alex could be forcibly snuggled until the situation was remedied, and there was definitely an appeal to an isolated cabin and Alex. A lot of appeal, now that she thought of it.

The drive was still long. And boring. They’d exhausted all of their usual car karaoke songs before they’d even hit the California border. Kara had demolished their collection of snacks, and the three Lumberjack Special Breakfast Bomb platters she’d ordered at the tiny diner they’d stopped at on a whim had worn off an hour before. They should have gotten another three to go, but hindsight was 20/20.

“We should build a snowman.” It was another familiar refrain. Alex had given up on responding to her after the first three times she’d pointed out that Oregon received more rain than snow, but Kara thought that repeating it often enough might embed it in Alex’s brain as a subconscious suggestion. “Think about it, Alex. A snowman. A snowball fight. Hot cocoa and hanging our socks up in front of the fire to dry.”

This time, Alex did roll her eyes. “I’m not sure we should leave J’onn’s cabin smelling like wet, stinky socks.”

“Fine. You can leave your socks outside.”

Without looking, Alex flicked out her hand, smacking Kara on the bicep.

XXXXXXXXXX

“Oh, wow.”

Kara nodded her agreement, mouth open as she took in J’onn’s retreat. The cabin wasn’t huge, or maybe it was the thick, towering trees surrounding it on three sides that made it feel cozy. It was certainly private, tucked away at the end of a long, winding gravel road that climbed its way up the side of a mountain. There was already a trail of smoke drifting from the chimney, J’onn being the consummate host. Kara put their luggage down on the generous wooden deck as Alex unlocked the front door and turned to face back down the mountain.

“Look, Alex,” she said, wrapping a hand around Alex’s wrist and drawing her in. Alex hummed as she turned, focused on her keys, which enabled Kara to step in behind her and wrap her arms around Alex’s waist.

“Beautiful,” Alex said, looking down at the canopy stretched out below them, treetops shrouded in fog.

Kara looked from the view to Alex and back to the view, biting her tongue so she didn’t say something ridiculously cheesy. “And there’s snow,” she pointed out.

“Frost.” Alex rocked back against Kara, a little nudge like she knew what Kara was doing and was in on the joke. Kara was always, always going to be glad that she was a few inches taller, because it meant she could tuck Alex into her like something special.

“I can make snow, you know.” She demonstrated, blowing a puff of superchilled air past Alex’s ear, making her shiver. A sprinkling of snow fell to the ground, blending in with the white-tipped grass. She was tempted to do it again, if only for the way Alex pressed back into her instinctively, seeking warmth.

“We’re in hiding. Maybe don’t create your own localized arctic weather event.” Alex tugged out of Kara’s grip and looked back over her shoulder with a look that said she knew Kara was seriously thinking about it and that she seriously should not be.

So, clearly, a discussion to be postponed until Alex was in a more amenable mood.

XXXXXXXXXX

“Hiding out from assassins is boring,” Kara declared, flipping over to her stomach and burying her face in one of the soft, fuzzy pillows J’onn had left on the couch.

They’d been there two days, and Alex seemed set on spending most of her time nudging aside the curtains to glare down at the road leading up to the cabin, her gun never far from her hand. Sure, Kara had managed to coax her into a few games of go fish and gin rummy, and they’d gone through J’onn’s outdated stack of DVDs to unearth some movies Kara would definitely be teasing him about later, but watching bad movies and beating Alex at cards were both things they could have done at home. And anyway, as she kept reminding Alex, she had superhearing. If anyone was coming up the drive, she’d know it long before Alex did.

Which… She pushed up onto her hands and looked over to where Alex was glaring out of the window at a suspicious fir tree.

“Someone’s coming,” she said, more confused by the slight rustle of fallen nettles underfoot than anything else. Had her hapless assassin actually managed to track them down? Was she going to have to be not assassinated for a third time?

Alex’s face went into its serious business mode, which involved drawn brows, pursed lips, flashing eyes, and ridiculously sharp cheekbones. She flicked the safety off of her gun and lowered the weapon to her side, so on alert that she was nearly quivering.

“How many?”

Kara squinted, looking through the wall, past notched logs, and further. The sound teased at her ears, a brisk _crunch crunch_ , and she watched with no little amazement as a grandmotherly type emerged from the woods to the left of their cabin, already smiling.

“One? But she’s, like, sixty? Seventy? Ninety?” After a certain point, it became impossible to guess human ages, but Alex tended to get defensive when she said that.

“You’re telling me a nonagenarian is on her way to assassinate you?” Alex’s glare was particularly withering, which Kara didn’t appreciate at all. It wasn’t her fault her assassin was an elderly lady. “What, does she have a sniper rifle mounted to her walker?”

“No, but she has a box—” Kara squinted a little harder, and added triumphantly— “with a cat in it.”

“She has a box with a cat in it,” Alex repeated slowly and with an incredulous emphasis that Kara deemed entirely unnecessary.

Kara wasn’t sure why she felt so defensive about it. She was merely reporting what she saw. “Yes. She’s a human woman of indeterminant but advanced age, and she came from the forest with a cat in a box. And she’s going to be here in about 2 minutes.”

Alex pointed at her threateningly. “You go to the back. I’ll handle this.”

Kara ignored her because it was a silly idea. In the first place, she’d never met a possible cryptid before, but an old lady emerging from the forest with a cat in a box seemed like the best chance she’d get. In the second place, she wasn’t going to let some old lady with a cat in a box kill Alex to get to her.

Thankfully, before things could get too tense, her cryptid assassin knocked on the cabin’s door.

Alex gestured for Kara to go to the back once again, and once again, Kara ignored her. There was another silent battle of wills before Alex sighed, scowled, and went to answer the door.

The visitor/assassin/cryptid started speaking before it was even fully open. “Oh, hello dear. I’m Theodora Wifflestein. I live just through the woods there,” the human woman of advanced but indeterminant age said, gesturing vaguely with the box. “I’m Mr. Henshaw’s neighbor.”

Kara tried to peek over Alex to get a look at their unexpected guest, but Alex straightened up until she was as tall as she could manage, blocking most of her view.

“Are you the nice ladies from the internet?” she continued, tightening her grip on the box when it shook ominously. “Mr. Henshaw said he was going to be renting out his cabin for a bit. I don’t know what I think about this whole business, putting your house up in the air and letting strangers stay in it, but Mr. Henshaw has always seemed like a good judge of character. And look at you, a perfectly respectable young lady, I’ll bet.”

Kara could almost see the mental calculations Alex was running through to decide if she should a) shoot this kind old lady, b) slam the door in her face, or c) both. She decided to step in. “Hi, Ms. Wifflestein. It’s nice to meet you. Do you want to come in? It’s pretty cold out there.”

“Kara,” Alex said warningly, but Ms. Wifflestein was already bundling forward, forcing Alex back a step. By the time she’d finished, she was inside the cabin, unwinding her scarf, and the box was on the table. Kara was glad to see that Alex’s gun wasn’t visible but less glad to see the promise in Alex’s eyes that she would come to regret this course of action as soon as Alex could bundle Ms. Wifflestein straight back through the door.

“Oh, is that your name, dear?”

This one wasn’t on her, Kara decided. “That’s me,” she said, pointing to herself. “Kara D…” It occurred to her immediately that she was on the verge of making the kind of serious blunder that Alex wouldn’t forgive easily. “D’Zorel. Kara D’Zorel.”

Alex looked ready to kill her herself.

“Uh, and this is Alex. Also D’Zorel. My, uh…” She stumbled, not sure if saying ‘sister’ was revealing sensitive information. “My very close personal friend.”

“We’re not so backwards as all that up here.” Ms. Wifflestein smiled beatifically. “No need to worry. A little couple’s weekend, is it?” she asked, clapping her hands together as if it was the most wonderful thing she’d heard all week.

Kara didn’t even look at Alex this time. Things had gone awry, but she was going to commit. “Yes. Yes, absolutely. A couple’s weekend.” In a burst of inspiration, she added, “It’s our anniversary. Alex thought we needed to get away for a little while and relax.”

“And I’m sure you do.” Ms. Wifflestein had the air of someone who would have already made them cups of hot cocoa topped with marshmallows had they been at her cabin instead of the other way around, and Kara felt a sudden need to reciprocate.

“Would you like some tea?” she offered, sincerely hoping J’onn had some somewhere.

“That’s kind of you dear, but no.” Kara was sure Ms. Wifflestein’s eyes actually sparkled when she smiled. “I’m just here to drop off this little dear.”

As soon as the lid of the box was removed, a very high pitched, warbly meow made itself known. It was followed by another, and then another, and Kara wondered if the box had somehow insulated the sound up until that point because the cat didn’t seem prepared to stop meowing now that it had started.

“Hank said he could use a barn cat as a mouser, and my Lilith just had a litter. I don’t know how, seeing how there aren’t any toms around here as far as I know, but the proof is in the pudding. This one’s old enough to be on his own, and he has the look about him. You might want to put a blanket out on the porch for him, but he’s hardy stock. He’ll take care of himself just fine.”

Kara stepped over to the box and looked down to see a bright orange kitten with bright orange eyes staring back up at her, meowing ferociously.

She fell in love.

XXXXXXXXXX

“No,” Alex said, as if she could make her word the final one by vehemence alone.

“But Alex…” The little kitten was tiny and soft and fuzzy and purring so hard he was practically vibrating in her hands. “We can’t leave him outside. It’s cold! And he’s just a baby!”

“You heard what the old lady said. He’s a mouser and a barn cat and would probably be happier outside anyway.”

Kara covered his little ears. “You take that back. He can be anything he wants to be, and if you make him sleep outside, then I guess I’m sleeping outside too.” She’d suddenly come to fully understand the phrase ‘a hill I’m willing to die on’, and that hill was a small, adorable kitten with bright orange eyes.

“We don’t even have supplies for a kitten, Kara,” Alex pointed out, in that slightly patronizing way she had when she thought she was being logical and that Kara was running on hot-headed emotion. “We’d need food and a litter box. We don’t have either of those things, but the forest does.”

“We have a car that can take us into town, where we can buy those things.” Kara cuddled the kitten closer to her chest so he didn’t mistake her glare as being directed toward him.

“We’re in _hiding_.”

“And we’re almost out of toilet paper.”

She could see that Alex really wanted to decree something ridiculous, like that they would just use leaves. If she did, Kara would get assassinated again just to spite her. It must have been clear on her face, because Alex scowled, muttered _fine_ , and snatched the keys off of the kitchen table.

XXXXXXXXXX

“You’re staying with me, baby boy.” The kitten (Alex refused to even consider a name – _you’ll get attached, Kara_ ) was so full his little belly bulged. He was purring away in Kara’s lap, swatting at the finger she kept tapping against his adorable nose. “And you’ll be safe and warm and I’ll let you sleep in the big bed,” she narrated, waggling her finger to shake loose his little claws.

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes, you will,” Kara assured the kitten who was currently hanging off of her finger like it was a pull-up bar. “I own half of the bed, so I get to say what goes on my side.”

Alex flipped the page of the book she was reading with the crispness of a statement, though she stayed quiet.

“Don’t worry,” Kara added, as if sharing a secret, “I’m stronger than her, so if it came to a fight, I think I could take her.”

There was the distinct sound of paper tearing. Kara barely held back a snort. Instead, she redirected to place a kiss on the kitten’s head, because being that adorable deserved a reward. Surprised by the sudden movement and the affection headed his direction, the kitten startled back, lost his hold on Kara’s finger, and plopped down. He looked up at Kara as if he’d been betrayed, as if instead of a kiss she’d been bearing down on him with murderous intent. She reached for him, desperate to reassure him, and watched with dismay as he scuttled backward. Then, much to her horror, the kitten traipsed unsteadily across the couch, climbed up Alex’s thigh, and planted himself in her lap to glare at Kara balefully.

“No way, bub,” Alex said, turning another page. She didn’t dislodge him, though, and Kara could only watch helplessly as the kitten turned in circles before settling down in the hollow of Alex’s lap with his head propped on her thigh.

XXXXXXXXXX

She’d tried the feather wand toy. She’d tried catnip infused mice. She’d even tried rolling the little ball with the bell inside it, even though Alex threatened to shoot it. None of it, not one single toy or any entreaty, no matter how desperate, had been able to dislodge the kitten from where he was napping against Alex’s chest. It was galling. It was even worse than the night before, when the kitten had decided to sleep on Alex’s side of the bed, climbing over Kara like she was merely a bridge to his new favorite person.

“Why won’t you love me?” she asked, too despondent to be embarrassed by the way her voice cracked.

Alex, who looked entirely too pleased to be the center of attention for a kitten she didn’t even like, gestured down. “Can you get some more firewood? I’m a little busy here.”

 _She_ was the one who’d set up the litter box. _She_ was the one who’d scooped it. _She’d_ picked out all of the toys and made sure the kitten food met recommended guidelines and agonized over which treats the kitten might like. _She’d_ made him a little bed out of a comfy blanket, and she knew for a fact she was warmer than Alex. And yet…

Kara hoisted a load of wood well beyond what a human could carry, just because she could. The kitten was a kitten, too young to recognize the superior choice in bipedal companions, but he would learn.

And then she heard it, over the crackle of frosty fallen pine needles. Alex’s voice, soft and affectionate. “Who’s the cutest little murder machine? You are, bub. Oh yes you are. Oh yes you are.”

Kara dropped the wood she was carrying then winced at the crash. “I’m okay,” she called, knowing Alex was probably already cocking her gun. Maybe. If it didn’t inconvenience the kitten. “Just tripped.”

Did it make sense? No. Did Alex buy it? Probably not, but she didn’t come storming out of the cabin either. The _traitor_.

XXXXXXXXXX

“I think you’re right,” Kara said later, fuming on her otherwise empty side of the bed as Bub (she’d vetoed the name, but the kitten hadn’t objected, and anyway, neither of them seemed to care what she thought) had curled up at Alex’s feet and was licking his paw. “Maybe we should let him sleep outside. It won’t be fair to him when we have to leave him here and he doesn’t know how to survive on his own.”

“Mmm.”

“Not tonight,” she backtracked hastily, having expected a refusal from Alex, the kitten thief, “because he’s already cozy. Tomorrow night.”

“Mmm.”

Kara scooted in closer to Alex, snuggling in behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist. “You don’t mind?” She pressed her nose to the back of Alex’s neck and grinned when Alex yelped an affronted _cold!_

“Why would I mind?”

“You’re sure you don’t like Bub? Not even a little?”

“We’re here to keep you safe, Kara. That’s all I’m concerned with.”

It seemed more like a nice vacation in a cozy cabin than it did some kind of top-secret government op, but whatever. “I wonder why J’onn didn’t mention Ms. Wifflestein.”

“I texted him about it.” Alex wiggled back so that she was pressed against Kara even more closely. “He said he just forgot that she was a bit of a nosy neighbor. Harmless, he said.”

“Did you tell him about Bub?”

“Hmm?” Alex’s voice had gotten sleepy in the short time she’d been wrapped up by Kara. “No. It didn’t seem important.”

Kara was almost asleep herself when Alex sat up so suddenly that Kara nearly sprang into the air in surprise. “Oh,” Alex said, in the same tone of voice one would use if they got to their car only to remember they’d left their keys back inside the house, “I was going to bring him up. I don’t want him biting my toes while I sleep.”

Which was how Kara found herself the mostly forgotten big spoon to someone who was too busy spooning a traitorous kitten to notice.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kara was almost vengefully glad that Alex’s eyes narrowed when she returned from her short trip into town to replenish their supplies (of kitten food, she’d wanted to point out) to find Bub purring happily in Ms. Wifflestein’s lap.

“Oh, Alex. So good to see you again,” Ms. Wifflestein said, running her finger under Bub’s upthrust chin in a way that made him purr like a buzz saw. “Kara was just telling me all about your job as a gun range instructor.”

Which, Kara wanted to point out when Alex looked at her with a distinct lack of amusement, would totally explain any sightings Ms. Wifflestein might catch of the various firearms Alex had stashed around the cabin. She’d been being _strategic_.

“And what about you, dear?” Ms. Wifflestein asked, turning back to Kara.

Kara’s mind went blank. “Uh, I write,” she said, and struggled for anything that wasn’t _mostly editorials about alien rights_. “E… E… Erotica.”

“Oh!” Ms. Wifflestein looked delighted. “Anything I might know? Do you have a pen name? Are you secretly famous?”

Alex crossed her arms over her chest, a clear indication that she was going to stand back and watch Kara try and dig herself out of the hole she’d just created for herself.

“Probably not,” Kara said weakly. “I don’t really sell a lot of copies.”

Ms. Wifflestein looked delighted for her nonetheless. “Well, you’ll have to let me know one of your titles and I’ll see if I can’t get it from the library. And aren’t you the model for a novel yourself, the two of you?” She chuckled with delight. “Perhaps your next book should feature an erotica writer and a gun range instructor in an isolated cabin in the woods, no longer able to ignore the sexual tension between them. It would make an interesting story, wouldn’t it? Oh! Your erotica writer could be on the run, in fear for her life, protected from threats by the brave, strong, highly-skilled gun range instructor who has sworn to protect her. I’d buy a copy, dear, if you promised passionate love-making in front of a roaring fire.”

Kara’s mouth was suddenly completely devoid of moisture. “Ha! That would be…” She looked at Alex helplessly, but Alex shook her head and gestured, as if inviting Kara to continue on. “It would, uh, practically write itself. Yep. Cabin, check. Brave, strong, highly-skilled gun range instructor, check.”

“And passionate love-making in front of a roaring fire?” The twinkle in Ms. Wifflestein’s eye was clearly insinuating something. “Not to worry, dears. I won’t tell Hank.”

“Right,” Kara said hoarsely, sure she was blushing as if that roaring fire was coming from her very own skin. “Passionate love-making. Check. That’s us. Always passionately making love in front of fireplaces. Every chance we get. Just can’t pass it up.”

She was only slightly grateful that Alex waited until Ms. Wifflestein had been seen away before actually laughing at her. “You’re the worst liar I know.”

Kara wanted to argue that it wasn’t true (she was an alien managing to pass for human, okay), but she was actually more interested in the fact that Alex wasn’t spiraling into horror and embarrassment at the clear insinuation that they were debauching themselves in front of fireplaces with regularity. They were erroneously assumed to be a couple by so many restaurant servers, grocery store clerks, and oblivious neighbors that Alex had long ago stopped panicking about that, but this was the first time Kara could think of that the innuendo had been so _overt_. This wasn’t a server thinking they were helping unite a couple of people who couldn’t find their blind date. Ms. Wifflestein had been talking about – and here Kara’s blush deepened – _sex_.

“Because of that, I’m going to write that book, and I’m going to give your character a stupid name.” She watched with no little incredulity as Bub circled around Alex’s ankles, then accepted being scooped up as if it was a foregone conclusion. “Look forward to being Thistle Bottomdown.” She narrowed her eyes. “And to only shooting 22s. Tiny ones, with pink handgrips.”

That was better, she thought, as Alex scowled at her.

XXXXXXXXXX

The thing was, Kara couldn’t get it off of her mind. There had been an _implication_. Alex hadn’t even seemed to mind it, much less refute it. She’d mostly (sort-of) managed to keep the totally romantic part of her love and devotion to Alex on the down low instead of full boil, but Alex’s lack of reaction had cracked open the door of repression Kara had been wedging shut for years.

Maybe Alex wouldn’t mind a little all-consuming romantic love and devotion?

She checked to see if anything else about Alex might have changed, but she was sitting idly on the couch, booping Bub’s nose. Well, that had changed. Had Bub been the one to open up the path to Alex’s heart? And if so, would it close again if Kara removed him from his comfy position in Alex’s lap and replaced him with herself?

“Hey,” Alex squawked, “he was comfortable.”

Kara wiggled until her head was settled in Alex’s lap then resettled Bub on her chest. “So,” she said, ignoring the way Bub was trying to climb up her neck to get to Alex again, “passionate love-making in front of a roaring fire?”

“Seems cliché, but whatever. It’s your book.”

“No, I mean…” And great, now she was flustered. “You didn’t seem to mind.”

Alex looked down at her, clearly confused.

“When Ms. Wifflestein insinuated that we were, you know, doing it by firelight.”

“Gross.”

Kara drooped.

“Even I don’t call it _doing it_. What are you? A fourth-grader?”

“So, wait, is it doing it you think is gross or _doing it_?”

Alex lifted Bub up and propped him against her shoulder. “I’m really confused right now.” She gave Bub back scritches, and Kara tried to ignore just how smug he looked. “Are you confused, Bub? Because I am.”

“Yeah, well, so am I! Ms. Wifflestein talked about us having sex and you didn’t even blush!”

“Is that why you’re being so weird?”

“I’m not being weird.” Kara was on the verge of snapping, not sure how Alex could be so obtuse, even with over two decades of experience with it. “I just want to know whether or not you think having sex with me is gross.”

“Probably not.” Alex shrugged and repositioned Bub so his head was tucked under her chin. “I can’t speak from personal experience, but it seems unlikely that _doing it_ with you is gross.”

Somewhat mollified, Kara spoke before fully comprehending what she was going to say. “Would you want to speak from personal experience? Because I can totally help make that happen.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Araminta Zzrzztrzzu, also known as Ms. Wifflestein, looked smug. “I told you they just needed a little push.”

J’onn grunted, his knee on the back of the no longer struggling would-be assassin as he finished cuffing him. “You were supposed to keep an eye on them. I don’t remember asking for matchmaking assistance.”

“And I did keep an eye on them.” Araminta paused, then added delicately, “Well, not all of the time. Some things should stay private. Anyway, I let you know he was hanging about in the woods, didn’t I? And helped corral him?”

J’onn hauled the he in question to his feet. He was complaining bitterly in his native language, a string of invective toward Kara Danvers for trying to drag alien issues, and hence aliens, into the light. More than that, he was broadcasting fear and apprehension so loudly that too much more exposure was going to give J’onn a headache. J’onn reached out with his mind, calming his prisoner and reassuring him that they would find a way to help him, that there were underground alien societies where his insectile appearance wouldn’t be a shocking difference or bring violence down upon him from unaccepting humans.

“Maybe we should check on them,” J’onn suggested. Kara’s mind was a void to him. Alex’s wasn’t much help either, full of the erratic jumble that indicated deep sleep and dreams. “I’m surprised they haven’t joined us.”

Araminta focused, sending a part of her consciousness out to join with Bub’s, allowing her to see through his eyes. She directed him to claw his way up to the bed, observed the scene for a moment, and made a gracious exit. Even through Bub’s limited perspective, she’d seen a tremendous amount of bare skin. “I’m not. Let’s leave them alone, shall we? They have much to keep themselves occupied, and I believe they’d appreciate a bit of privacy.”

XXXXXXXXX

Kara snuggled in close behind Alex, glad to be back in her own bed, even if it was a little embarrassing that she’d managed to sleep through the apprehension of her erstwhile assassin. While the move was familiar, the fact that they were naked was relatively new. A tiny paw batted at the back of her hand jealously, but Kara had resigned herself to only being the object of Alex’s affection. Bub had condescended to allowing pets, snuggles, and pampering from her, but he still preferred to be Alex’s only cuddle partner. After a moment, the swats subsided, and Bub leaned up against her hand, no doubt curled into a little ball of fur. A small step, but she’d take it.

Alex snuggled against her sleepily, stretching her neck forward to accept the kiss Kara pressed against the back of her neck.

A much bigger step, Kara thought contentedly, and drifted to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope Bub sufficed. :)


End file.
